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Thursday, January 21, 2010

The following questions are attempts at humor laced with a bit of introspection. If you do not like my humor or do not like introspection or both of these "conditions" apply to you, please skip the questions.

Question: Choose either A or BA) The Center for the Jewish Future should be headquartered in:(i) Washington Heights (ii) Teaneck (iii) Five Towns (which?) (iv) Palestine (v) in your hearts (vi) Other Why?B) Compare and contrast – Center for the Jewish Future; Holy Roman Empire; Moetzet Gedolei Hatorah of Essex County

Click here to read moreExtra Credit Question: The munchies - real or imagined (see WSJ 1/19 if you want the answer but don't give yourself credit if you look)

R’Reisman – Nach shiur is not available on-line but Councilor K (he who once keenly noted – “Joel, you go through life bemused”) is my “connection”, and I thought I’d share my summaries (since by the number of comments my posts get I know you are all eager to hear my opinion. Oh, by the way, that was my evil twin’s sarcasm).

#181 - OptimismBe an optimistic person. This is truly the theme of Rosh Hashana – positive thinking! If you’re a believer, you should be happy [me – Rosh Hashana has imho a dialectic nature – coronation night yet judgment day – not so simple to hold both ideas in mind concurrently] (B”H those who know me know I’m always a sunny, optimistic person – fortunately R’YBS taught that it’s ok that we experience life basher hu sham(as it is))

Y – 182 – Tanach in the SiddurPrimarily review of meaning of psukei dzimrah – a good reminder to think about what we daven (or was it daven about what we think?)

#183 – Don’t Blame the RabbiDon’t blame the Rabbis – When they seem to be off-base, generally the worst they can be accused of is excessive hakarat hatov (or something like that) (me- it's always those askanim)

#184 - AlexandriaSide comment for the ages (Honestly, I didn’t detect a note of sarcasm) along the lines of – Why are we in chutz laaretz (outside of Israel)? Must be because we’ve concluded this is where we can maximize our avodat hashem.

#186 – Sheduchim of the GedolimShidduchim – we’re too influenced by the externals of the world around us.

#187 – Holocaust LessonsEsav went to Seir because he didn’t want the rewards or difficulties that Yaakov would face (hmmm, sounded negative but see Brachot 5b which said R’Yochanan felt similarly!)Interesting story about 70 yr. old who refused to walk down aisle at a wedding – since they stand for Chatan/Kallah but not for age [me – not in West Orange!]

Y – 188 – Israel at HomeWe have what to learn from the zealotry of our Israeli Charedi brethren (e.g. not worrying so much about where our next meal will come from and being more concerned with others chilul Shabbat than we are about someone blocking our driveway).

Y – 189 – Maoz TzurCertainly worthwhile to know what we sing. An interesting comment (IIRC from the Abarbanel!) that the rhyming form of poetry was adopted by Jews from Arabic poetry; R’Reisman says there’s nothing wrong with that. (me – this would be an interesting discussion)Priceless interpretation of the Rambam’s introduction to hilchot Chanukah which notes the return of Jewish sovereignty for 200 years. R’Reisman interprets this (and all of Maoz Tzur) as an endorsement of the unification of temporal and sacred (my words) power under gdolei yisrael. He then shows that all the questions on the meaning of Maoz Tzur can be answered with this insight.Reminds us that we need to separate from modern chochma Yvanit (me – torah; no madda?), not watch football on Sunday (at least till the 4th quarter) and stay away from things that are only Kosher bdieved [after the fact] – example = only drink Chalav Yisrael! (at least in Brooklyn)

Y – 191 – Kosher GeltScandals – Non bnai brit are quick to judge us by these exceptions (hmmm –we wouldn’t do that to them, would we?). We need to be less ostentatious and more open (me – Wall Street Journal test – don’t do anything you wouldn’t want to see on the front page of the Wall Street Journal).

Rules of privacy from prying eyes. Interesting to compare this to R’Brander shiur on the same topic. Here implies much less applicability today (sounds like it’s been out of practice for a long time) and gives some reasons; but some important moral lessons. [me – another example of the “Lev Shel torah” (non-algorithmic) – when do things change and when do they not]

Final session – discusses philosophical issues related to same sex marriage (how timely in NJ and YU). Very thought provoking and may help some of us fine tune (or develop) our thought process beyond – hmmm. Great quote concerning philosophy and the “restlessness of reason”. (Sometimes I wish my reason could be a little less restless – see councilor K above). Can justice be defined without a subjective moral basis (very interesting discussion – how can “we all just get along”, if at all ?{besides kiblu daati -do what I think is right).

Comparatively short (when you consider all the sources) review of how to allocate medical resources. Did not discuss issue I’d want to hear about – how , if at all, does the halacha differ for a tzibbur (e.g. who gets first flu vaccine) vs. allocation amongst a few individuals?Discusses positions of R’Moshe, R’Shlomo Zalman and Tzitz Eliezer on individual priorities.Still no answer as to why l’halacha we ignore the clear mishnayot in horiyot allocating amongst women, men cohanim etc.

Most of the standard kulot for not ripping kriah when you see the kotel don’t work – and why would you want to avoid it? People don’t rip Friday pm even though there’s no real reason not to – “it’s the minhag”! [ouch – almost as bad as “it’s mekubal”]

A good summary of his more lengthy series on hilchot mezuzah. Sounds like he holds that there may be no need to check indoor mezvzot after an initial determination that they are kosher and you can charge next resident for left behind mezuzot.

Another example of ch, ch, ch, ch, changes. The prohibition of no praises/gifts to non-ben brit and traditional heterim (e.g. you expect something in return) plus some newer ones (won’t ever meet the person). R’David Cohen doesn’t know why the observance is not more exact.

A detailed Lomdus analysis of inheritance and kinyan of non-bnai brit primarily based on pre matan Torah (always of interest).Some interesting observation on the use and scope of rov (in particular rov beilot achar habaal – BTW – is this a sociological observation subject to rebuttal? Why not test nowadays with DNA testing?)Bchora in twins also discussed (me – Rashi on the 2 stones in a narrow bottle – is that how conception and birth actually work?)